Huntington's, Standing Out & the biological basis of behavior

Tale regarding Dr. Vince Gilmer convicted of murder and ultimately found to have Huntington's.  [Dr. Gilmer and Mr. Hyde]

Huntington's is relatively rare in the Criminal Justice System BUT it is there. 

Folk Singer Woody Guthrie had Huntington's and found himself in the Criminal Justice System although on much less serious charges.  He was diagnosed with Huntington's in 1952.

A few years ago in Colorado, there was a man who was in one of the County Jails who not only had Huntington's but was Deaf ---- and pretty much everyone knew this man did not belong in the County Jail --- BUT the System didn't have a place for him.

One of the ways that the System knew --- He shouldn't be in Jail --- he was DIFFERENT ENOUGH to STAND OUT.

For a lot of people who have NEURO-DEVELOPMENTAL DISORDERS such as ADHD --- that's a DIME a DOZEN in the Criminal Justice System --- :

• So often we don't appreciate its significance, OR
• We're AFRAID to appreciate its significance 
  • We see the Neuro-Developmental Disorder ADHD as related to Conduct Disorder and Anti-Social Personality Disorder
  • BUT we can't bring ourselves to acknowledge the BIOLOGICAL BASIS of ANTI-SOCIAL PERSONALITY DISORDER.

Further, our Mental Health Professionals are TOO PRO SOCIALLY COMPETENT or more to the point NOT PEOPLE WITH THE RIGHT SKILLS  to QUESTION --- underlying assumptions.

• At one point, I did think --- HOW CAN THESE PEOPLE MISS THIS --- the BIOLOGICAL BASIS of BEHAVIOR --- they're Doctors and Ph.Ds --- come on . . .
• But missing it they are and generally it's Good Faith miss. 

The story in the This American Life episode highlights the "process" we're using to address these issues ----

• ​​We've got to find the SPECIFIC DIAGNOSIS in time for this SPECIFIC PERSON
• In the meantime, we're PUNISHING this SPECIFIC PERSON as well as others.
• ​It's a RACE WITH THE CLOCK & the CALENDAR.

Could we cut through all that if we could recognize the BIOLOGICAL BASIS of BEHAVIOR --- yeah, we could.

Most of these horrific cases could be avoided if we could accept the BIOLOGICAL BASIS OF BEHAVIOR.

• If that is a given --- and to some people including myself it seems REASONABLE to assume that until proven otherwise ---
• Then we're not getting HUNG UP in the CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM on the SPECIFICS of that BIOLOGY at the initial determination of whether the person did the acts charged. 

"I've been havin' some hard travelin' ---
I thought you knowed."

I think the "Free Will vs. Determinism" debate gets us so OFF TRACK --- BUT I keep posting this video because at 1:45 Sapolsky says this:

"When you look at the number of things that we recognize now as biological --- organic -- where 500 years ago or 5 years ago we would have had a harsh moral judgment about it.

"Instead we now know oh that's a biological phenomenon.

"When we look at that, either we can say that the last 500 years of realizing  all of this biology is going to stop right here and there's never going to be a new piece of knowledge in that area ----
​"Yeah, there's areas of behavior we still can't explain biologically..

"But if all you can do is see the logical direction of where we're going with that is what we're going to get to the point of recognizing yeah, we're biological organisms. . ."

Where the "Free vs. Determinism Debate" gets OFF TRACK --- it is running in the WRONG DIRECTION.

• So we tend to LOOK TO THE PAST --- and say "Hey, there are all these BIOLOGICAL FACTORS and ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS affecting BIOLOGY --- 
  • ​Therefore, there is NO FREE WILL.

 

• At the same time (roughly), we're SLOWLY:
  • ​Learning to control our Environments
  • Learning to control our Biologies
  • Learning to peel away UNCONSCIOUS thought processes
  • Using CRITICAL THINKING to understand more COMPLICATED and INTEGRATED REALITIES.

 

• What is becoming APPARENT is --- WE ARE NOT AS FAR ALONG AS WE THOUGHT WE WERE.

We're handing DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT to EXPERTS within the PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM.

• Where DIAGNOSIS & TREATMENT are more appropriate and FAR FROM PERFECT.
• BUT it doesn't have to be PERFECT if we understand the BIOLOGICAL BASIS of BEHAVIOR (this is for the purposes of moving away from PUNISHMENT)--
  • If we don't understand the BIOLOGICAL BASIS of BEHAVIOR --- our reasoning is laborious and convoluted --- AND most importantly --- some DISFAVORED PERSON is paying the price of our IGNORANCE.
  • Is this person also going to PAY A PRICE if we don't have the right "DIAGNOSIS" or "TREATMENT" --- Yes, BUT we are MITIGATING the often HORRIFIC EFFECTS of a PUNITIVE SYSTEM that is often not SUFFICIENTLY HUMANE or SUFFICIENTLY PROVIDING FOR SAFETY.
    • ​Additionally, it is important to emphasize that this is MITIGATION and it doesn't replace the need for better DIAGNOSTICS and TREATMENTS.

Further, we're MONITORING Treatment and Placements to ensure that they remain APPROPRIATE --- but this is more a PROCESS than an EVENT.

Finally, we're able to handle the INTEGRATIVE COMPLEXITY of INTENT that is BIOLOGICALLY DRIVEN.